SYSTEM OF CIRCULARITY INDICATORS FOR THE NATIONAL ECONOMY: AN AUTHOR’S METHODOLOGY
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to develop an author’s system of circularity indicators for the national economy and to calculate on this basis the Composite Circularity Index of the National Economy (CINE), adapted to the specific statistical base of Ukraine. We establish that none of the existing international monitoring frameworks — not the Eurostat Monitoring Framework (11 indicators across 5 thematic areas), nor the OECD inventory (474 indicators across 5 categories), nor the UNECE/OECD Guidelines (19 core indicators) — is directly applicable to Ukraine, due to the absence of corresponding statistical series and the specific structure of waste generation. We propose an author’s four-block system comprising 18 indicators grouped into the following blocks: material flows, waste management, secondary resource use, and the socioeconomic dimension. Each block is assigned a weight coefficient (w₁=0.30; w₂=0.30; w₃=0.25; w₄=0.15) reflecting its importance for the national transition strategy. We apply min-max normalization to all indicators and compute CINE as a weighted sum of the normalized block sub-indices. We find that Ukraine’s CINE equals 0.140, compared with 0.548 for the EU-27 average, documenting a critical ‘circularity gap.’ We estimate Ukraine’s circular material use rate at approximately 2.8%, while the EU-27 reached 11.8% in 2023. The municipal solid waste recycling rate in Ukraine does not exceed 8%, against the EU average of 48%. We construct target values for CINE over 2027–2040 and propose a corresponding set of policy measures: ecological tax reform, development of source-separation infrastructure, introduction of extended producer responsibility, and support for green research and development. The scientific novelty of this study lies in the synthesis of international methodological experience and adaptation of the indicator system to the conditions of a country undergoing European integration, creating prerequisites for Ukraine’s alignment with EU circular economy governance standards.
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